The proposal was first floated in 2012 in internal government documents obtained by The Canadian Press under freedom of information laws.

The documents say the proposed lab would be used to monitor the health of fish raised in aquaculture sites along the province’s southwest coast.

Last October, Fisheries Minister Keith Colwell confirmed the government was considering the plan, but he made it clear the proposal represented the most expensive option for improving monitoring.

On Friday, a department spokeswoman said the government has dropped the original proposal and has instead built a new, $250,000 lab inside the Nova Scotia Community College campus in Shelburne.

The new lab is not a Level-2, bio-secure facility, as suggested in the original proposal.

The department said it is also poised to consolidate some existing labs in Truro at a cost of $360,000.

“The chosen alternatives are lower cost and an efficient use of facilities and resources,” Krista Higdon said in an email, adding that the lab in Shelburne uses the same office space as other department employees.